


The Changeling's Comet

by KataraTakaran



Category: Danny Phantom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Genre: Bullying, Crossover, Danny the blankflank earthpony, Gen, Malfunctioning Magic, Multi, Other, blank flank shaming, sam the unicorn, tucker is a griffon because meat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-08
Updated: 2015-09-09
Packaged: 2018-04-19 17:54:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4755692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KataraTakaran/pseuds/KataraTakaran
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Comet Dancer - or Danny, as he chose to be called - was just a blank-flanked colt with aspirations to fly one day. To the moon if he could. But when he's hit by a malfunctioning rendition of one of his parent's spells, he finds himself with much bigger things to worry about. Hive minded things.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Misfire

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Satamoru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Satamoru/gifts).



Danny blinked, still groggy. They blurred in and out of sight, but their voices were still clear enough. Sam was hysterical, horn still aglow with the spell she'd just cast on him. She was begging him to tell her he was alright. Tucker was busy figuring out if there was a need to call professional assistance – namely a doctor.

  
Finally he groaned, and pushed himself unsteadily to his hooves. His ears rang in protest to the new elevation, he felt as though he'd been electrocuted, but otherwise he seemed to be alive.

  
“I'm fine.” he cut their noise short. “Four hooves, one head, one tail. Calm down.”

  
“You don't look fine.” Tucker informed him.

  
“Yeah, Sam fried me good, I'll give her that.” Danny admitted, shaking himself. Upon inspection, his fore-hooves were stained black with charcoal. A huge difference from his usual pinkish colouration. He shook himself again, then headed for the stairs, still unsteady. “It's going to take forever to scrub this out."

  
"Danny, wait." Sam blocked his path. "I'm not sure what that spell was trying to accomplish, nor what it did when it backfired, but I'm pretty sure that there is no spell around that can give you this.” She pressed a hoof to his face, but instead of it laying flat as it usually did, it was stopped by a boney protuberance.

  
A horn of his very own.

  
“Or these.” Tucker added, breaking excitement before it began. Feathers against thin, filament wings was not a pleasant sensation, or at least when he wasn't used to it.

  
He reached back, more concerned and excited at the idea of getting wings. He had to touch them himself, ensure they were real and not just a hallucination. He was cut short when hoof brushed his back, knocking a chunk of baked soot off his back. The wings were real, alright. And they were attached to a bright green back-plate that wrapped around his stomach in thick segments.

  
Danny jolted, and scrambled around Sam, racing for the nearest bathroom.

  
His friends chased after him, following the trail of soot he was leaving in his wake.

  
The mirror did not disprove his concerns – a green-eyed changeling stared back at him.

  
He was a changeling.

  
He was a changeling in the middle of his parent's changeling hunting headquarters.


	2. Chapter 2

 “You know, I hate having perspective on just how ungainly hooves are compared to magic.” Danny informed Sam. She shrugged, and went back to eating her lunch.

“Just remember that you have no horn right now, and everything will be fine.” Tucker grinned, wiggling his talons in anticipation (and maybe mockery), before digging in himself. His much meatier lunch made the ponies shy away in disdain, Sam more than Danny.

“Can you not?” She grumbled, pulling her plate away from an errant chunk of roast-beef.

“Not only am I an obligatory carnivore, I am also a meat connoisseur. So no. I can't.” Tucker clacked his beak condescendingly, then returned to eating. Almost as green as her turf on rye, Sam tried to ignore him best she could – in hopes her appetite returned.

Danny didn't care. His daisy sandwich didn't look appetizing either, for different reasons.

He'd been a changeling for almost a month. Luckily becoming himself again was second nature, but he was constantly on edge. And constantly forgetting himself. And constantly hungry.

His food tasted like cardboard. Every bite of it. But he slaved to keep ingesting it, in hopes that it would fill the void that was slowly growing in his belly. It didn't. It just sat heavily until it digested. His friends had noticed his lack of appetite, as had most of his family, but at least the former knew the reasoning.

Today they were dutifully ignoring it over their usual argument. Danny vaguely listened to it, shoving an errant daisy around his plate. He didn't even know how to get the proper stuff he was supposed to eat. It wasn't like he had a girlfriend, even if he knew the process of absorbing love.

“Anyway, ignoring Tucker's lack of sensitivity to our clearly herbivorous ways, have you mentioned anything to your parents yet?”

“No.” Danny had to stop himself from levitating his sandwich for the third time that afternoon. In retribution, his hooves hollowed out for a moment, exposing holes. He set himself right, and inserted food into his mouth to prevent further conversation.

“They might have something to turn you back.”

“Or they might just pin me down and start the biopsy immediately.” He pointed out when his mouth was free. “I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have my insides ripped out, and displayed on the walls of the family lab.”

“There's no guarantee they'd do that.”

“There's no guarantee that they won't.” Tucker pointed out.

“Exactly.” Danny cocked a brow.

“But it'd be better to tell them now, than let them find out and just assume you were replaced.”

“There is that.” He sighed. “I'll decide on what I'm doing later.”

“And for now?” Sam wanted to know.

“Well for now I-”

“You eat Mud Pies!” A glop of sticky mud splattered onto his plate, making the barely digestible sandwich little more than garbage. He sighed, redirecting his attention to the bulky unicorn who now towered over him, pail of mud not yet depleted and standing at the ready. Dash was leering down at him, pleased at having ruined the earth-pony’s lunch.

“Really, Dash?” Danny asked, annoyed more than angry.

“Gotta enjoy my glory days – they're all I'll get!” Dash fired, and drenched him in brown goo. “Well would you look at that, now you really are a reindeer!”

“Wow.” Danny glowered.

“On Comet, Dance away!” Danny was then spurred into a run, abandoning friends and lunch alike, fleeing for his life (or at least his pride).

He skidded around a corner, vaguely aware of his horn sparking to life. He couldn’t do much in the way of stopping it, as busy running as he was. Between the two tasks, his concentration slipped, and he collided into his teacher – Mr Lancer.

The tall unicorn cocked a brow at him, concerned. “The Princess Bridle, Miss Jasmine Dazzle, whatever is the matter? Why are you covered in mud?”

Danny was instantly put off – why was he being referred to as his sis- oh. He caught sight of a lock of hair. It was bright orange, rather than dark teal.

“Oh, sorry, Mr. Lancer. It's just that Golden Dash... Throwing mud... and chasing me. Again?” His sister's voice responded. At least one good thing about being a shape-shifter, he supposed. To back up his claim, Dash lunged over the top of the stairs, wild with the chase. He stared around in confusion, having lost sight of his target.

Lancer sighed. “I'm sorry, if he wasn't such a good football player he'd be in far more trouble for harassing you in this way. That said.” He stood straight, and went to deal with the now very confused Dash. Danny took his chance to escape, circling the long way round the school, back to the cafeteria. He was still his sister, however. Sam cocked a brow, wondering what Jazz wanted with them.

“You should. Come. With me. To see Danny.” He explained. It took a moment, but the other's muddy form, and unprofessional speaking patterns tipped them off.

“Oh yeah, sure. He need help down from the flagpole or something?” Sam played along.

“Or something.” Danny agreed. Tucker followed them, gnawing on another meaty sandwich.

It took a couple tries, and a couple nervous minutes in his changeling form, but he was soon himself again.

“That's never happened before.” Sam commented as she helped rid him of mud.

“I know. Worse, I'm not sure why or how it happened, and if it happens again while someone's watching?”

“It's just magic.” Sam replied easily. “I'll help you learn some control over it – it's mostly practice anyways.”

“But until then?”

“Still might wanna consider talking to your parents. I mean, they probably won't understand, I get it, mine sure as hell don't get me. But they might have an idea.”

“Pbbt. Helpful advice. Thanks.” He was being sarcastic but Sam just shrugged it off. 

* * *

The evening after school was a tense one. His sister had been found – clean and un-harassed by a certain Dash – and was now mostly just confused by the entire situation. It didn't stop her from shoving her nose back into her psychology books.

Danny just sat beside her, still pushing around the last of dinner. Their mother was sitting across from him, tinkering with one of her latest inventions.

“Danny, is everything alright? You're barely eating again.” His mother had looked up to see him still working on dinner.

“Of course he's not alright. He's the oldest of the talentless in the area, and obviously he's under a lot of stress in a Canterlot school to both figure himself out, and due to the fact that you've chosen to raise a boy of his species in a magic-heavy neighbourhood.” Jazz huffed over the top of her book.

“Please do not take that tone with me, young lady.” Maddie chided gently. “Danny, is there anything that's bothering you? I know we're always distracted with work, and your Father even more so, but we are here for you. You can talk to us about anything.”

“Well...” He considered his options, and the leftover radishes in his salad. “I guess there is ONE thi-”

“MADDIE – IT'S COMPLETE!” A booming voice interrupted him, and successfully distracting his mother. A massive earth-pony stallion exploded into the room, mouth full of technology.

“Oh, Jack-!” Maddie dropped her own work, sending a screw bouncing across the table into Danny's salad. He stared at it, considering this as a sign of fate.

“Gather around kids! This is the piece of technological advancement that's going to make our jobs 100% easier!” Jack announced. “This is the F.E.N.T.O.N. Finder!” He paused. “I don't recall what all the letters are for, but it's made to find Changelings based on their magical signature!”

“Have you tested it?” Maddie wanted to know.

“No! I just put the last screw in now!” he flicked it on, watching the start up sequence with excited eyes. Maddie eyed the small machine, then pulled up her hood and goggles. Jack didn't seem to notice that, or when she tightened his screws with a flicker of magic.

Immediately it began beeping with urgency. There was a changeling right in front of them, apparently. They looked up, and stared at their children in confusion.

Danny felt his blood run cold, and it was all he could do to keep his magic from acting up as he and Jazz were approached.

“Hm, well that can't be right.” Maddie apprehended the machine. “Neither of our children could possibly be changelings, they're not drones, and they're not big enough for a queen to fit. I think we may have to calibrate this using the Princess' few prisoners. Don't blow up anymore today, Jack. We need those to study.”

Danny watched them walk out the door, feeling as though he'd both just dodged a bullet, and missed a grand opportunity. Jazz huffed beside him.

“Those ponies. Dad I can understand, he's a few bricks short of a load, but Mom should know better than to let him gallivant around in your time of need. Danny.” She grasped his face, drawing him to her chest. “Little, delicate, baby brother, if they're not paying attention, you can always speak to me as well.” She insisted. “I may not be an adult yet physically, but I am mentally. And I'll assist you through your most difficult years to the best of my ability.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks Jazz.” He accepted it with no intent to use the offer. “But nah, it's fine. I was just going to ask for... for a book. On Magical creatures. For a project. I need- WANT an A, and Changelings are literally the one thing that I might have a chance on.”

“Oh, don't bother with those. We have hardly any information on them anyways. I'll get you one on Manticores, those are far more interesting, and you won't have to listen to Dad rant for hours besides.” He was thus dragged away to study the night away – the exact opposite of what he'd wanted. 


End file.
